Gov. Scott Walker has two credit-card debts of more than $10,000 apiece on separate cards and is paying an eye-popping 27.24 percent interest rate on one of them, new federal financial documents disclosed on Monday show.

The Republican presidential candidate has cast himself as both a fiscal conservative leader and a penny-pinching everyman on the campaign trail, often touting his love of Kohl’s, the discount department store. His newly published financial disclosure shows that, like many Americans, Walker has few assets, some major debts (including more than $100,000 for student loans for his children), and a punishing interest rate on his credit-card obligations.

Walker incurred one credit-card debt with Barclays in 2014, according to the financial disclosure form, and owed between $10,000 and $15,000 at a 27.24 percent interest rate as of July 2015. Most financial advisers recommend shedding credit-card debt as quickly as possible, especially when paying interest rates that high.

Walker, who has spent his adult life in elected office, is among the poorer Republican candidates for president. Donald Trump is worth billions. Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson are all multimillionaires. All told, Walker listed only six investments worth between $1,000 and $15,000, a whole life insurance plan worth between $15,000 and $50,000, and a deferred compensation plan from Milwaukee County worth between $15,000 and $50,000.

His carrying of high-interest credit-card debt makes Walker the second major candidate with some eyebrow-raising personal finances. Earlier this year, rival Sen. Marco Rubio, also among the less-well-off politicians in the field, reported cashing out one of his retirement accounts, another move not recommended by many financial professionals.

“As a public servant, the governor gave back hundreds of thousands of his salary to the taxpayers, and he is a regular American with two kids in college and a small amount of credit card debt,” Walker spokeswoman AshLee Strong said.

Walker has carried at least some credit-card debt for four years, according to the disclosure form, despite a job as governor that paid him $222,899 since the start of 2014 (annualized, his salary is around $140,0000). In that time Walker also received a $45,000 advance for a book, Unintimidated, about his governorship.

One of Walker’s credit-card debts, to Bank of America, dates back to 2011, his first year as governor, according to the disclosure form. Walker currently owes between $10,000 and $15,000 on that one, with an interest rate of 11.99 percent.

And that appears to be a substantial improvement. Walker’s state-level disclosure form in Wisconsin said that at the end of 2014 he had more than $50,000 in debts to Bank of America. That form did not identify the debt as a credit card, or list its interest rate.

On the Wisconsin form, Walker also listed a $5,000 to $50,000 debt to Sears Master Card as of the end of 2014. That debt does not appear on Walker’s federal disclosure, suggesting he paid it off.

"The White House on Monday said that CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass has been 'restored,' bowing to days of pressure and a federal lawsuit against the administration. CNN signaled that it would drop the ongoing litigation over Acosta's access to the White House."

Source:

WAS IT A POLITICAL PLOY?

Troops at Border to Begin Withdrawing

1 hours ago

THE LATEST

"The 5,800 troops who were rushed to the Southwest border amid President Donald Trump’s pre-election warnings about a refugee caravan will start coming home as early as this week — just as some of those migrants are beginning to arrive. The timing is bound to fuel renewed accusations that the entire exercise amounted to a ploy by the president to use active-duty military forces as a prop to try to stem Republican losses in this month’s midterm elections, despite the absence of any legitimate threat to U.S. national security."

Source:

CLEARS THE WAY FOR CLYBURN

DeGette Drops Bid for Majority Whip

5 hours ago

THE LATEST

LARGEST BORDER CROSSING IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Administration Shuts Down San Diego Border Crossing

7 hours ago

THE LATEST

"U.S. border officials on Monday shut down all vehicular traffic flowing north from Mexico into California at the country's busiest border crossing and diverted staff to help bulk up the infrastructure and security there, in anticipation of the arrival of thousands of migrants traveling in caravans from Central America. The San Ysidro port of entry, which processes 20,000 pedestrians and 70,000 vehicles moving from Tijuana to San Diego each day, closed all passenger and commercial lanes and one of its two pedestrian crossings."

Source:

NO SENATE CONFIRMATION

Senators Sue Over Whitaker Appointment

7 hours ago

THE LATEST

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, and Sheldon Whitehouse have "filed a lawsuit challenging the appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general," which argues that "the appointment of Whitaker violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. The complaint asks a judge to declare the appointment unconstitutional and to prevent him from serving as head of the Justice Department."